MSI 1080 TI Duke Unboxing & Review

Today we get to unbox and review and new MSI 1080 Ti Duke. MSI released another version of 1080 TI Graphics Card recently under the brand name Duke. The new graphics card boasts 352-bit memory interface with a core base clock of 1480MHz, boost clock of 1582MHz, and 11GB of GDDR5X memory at 11016MHz. Today we’re going to do an unboxing of the MSI Duke 1080Ti, review the specs, and also do some real world benchmarking with it to see how it ranks amongst other 1080TI graphics card.

First, we want to make it clear that this isn’t MSI’s first 1080Ti graphics card, they have an entire lineup of them. You may be more familiar with the MSI Gaming X which features dual fan, a shorter profile, and has MSI’s signature red on the casing. We did an overview on the MSI Gaming X previously, you can check it out here.

Unboxing the MSi Duke 1080Ti

The MSI Duke ships in a beautiful carbon fiber skinned box with the essential letterings on the front side. The backside is more feature heavy and goes into details with all the offering you’re getting for a $750 graphics card.

One very nice and small touch that MSI added are the tabs to pull out the entire inside. Usually you’d have to do a little bit of wiggling to get everything out without ripping the box apart. Thanks to these little thumb tabs, you can pull the entire inside box easily.

Upon pulling everything out, we’re greeted with MSI’s subtle logo printed on the matted cardboard box. The top is a thin cardboard box containing the essential manual, some marketing materails, a 6 to 8 pin power adepter (if you’re using an older power supply, this is a nice little bonus), and the vestigial installation CD. If you’re building a gaming machine and throwing down $750+ on a graphics card, something tells me you’re not installing a CD drive. Not sure why manufacturers still include these in the higher end graphics card. For lower end cards it makes more sense.

The graphics card itself is encased snuggly inside the foam cushion wrapped in anti-static bag. Opening the wrap reveals a the magnificent looking MSI 1080 TI Duke. It’s construction is mostly hard plastic with carbon fiber print tastefully decorated on the face. Make sure you remove the plastic stickers on the fan plates before installing into your machine. The backplate is solid metal and features MSI’s logo and some more carbon fiber streaks for aesthetics.

Cooling

The graphics card features MSI’s proprietary Tri-Frozr fans. MSI claims the TORX fans have a combined of 2 different blade designs infused into one fan to give superior cooling capabilities. The unique about this card is that the fans actually stop spinning when temperatures are below 60C and only starts when temperatures are above 60C. Keeping the graphics card cool is a cornerstone of design and one many third party manufacturers focus on optimizing.

In addition to the fans, MSI also put a massive 8MM heatpipes that also helps dissipate heat during intense operation. The heatpipes also connect to a reinforced metal plate that acts as an additional heatsink and also prevent flexing due to the size of the graphics card.

The MSI Duke is also noticeable larger than the MSI X gaming therefore flexing may be an issue. Take a look at the picture below and you’ll noticed there’s 2 layers of reinforced plating sandwiching the circuitboard to provide both optimal heat dissipation and also anti-flexing. The anti-flexing held true as we did try to bend the graphics card and to no avail.

The Ports

The MSI 1080 TI Duke comes with your standard DVI port for those with older monitors. It has 2 HDMI 2.0 that can support 4K at 60Hz. You also get 2 1.4 Display ports that can support 4K at 120Hz or 8K at 60Hz (currently we don’t have any 8K displays yet, but in the future when we do, you’ll have a graphics card that can take advantage of it). This is the perfect configuration if you’re planning to setup your machine for VR.

For power, this graphics card (like all 1080 TI really) requires two 8-pin PCI Express power connectors that’s rated at 250 Watts. If your power supply doesn’t support 8-pin PCI, MSI graciously included an adapter for your 6-pin.

RGB Lighting

MSI promised that this is an RGB model meaning there will be configurable lights. The back plate looks nice and clean featuring MSI logo in all white and carbon fiber streaks, however it doesn’t light up. We don’t mind this, as when installed, the backplate is hardly visible anyway.

On the side, the MSI DUKE logo does light up and can be configured. The Geforce GTX doesn’t light up, probably not a bad thing for us because our poor wiring covers it anyway. Overall, the lighting aspect of the MSI 1080 TI Duke is disappointing as only the DUKE logo lights up.

Benchmark

Now it’s time to put the card to test. We decided to test single-player games instead of going online to really test the graphics card capabilities. Online games have the added layer of internet connection that could mislead our results.

For testing, we installed the MSI 1080 TI Duke into our rig. Below are the specs for our rig.

We chose Pixio’s new 347c Prime monitor to review most of the higher end graphics card. Pixio’s 347c Prime is a $600 34″ monitor with aspect ratio of 21:9 giving us ultra-wide 1440p viewing with up to 5MM pixels. This is considerably more challenging output than traditional 1080P monitors, however not quite as demanding as 4K monitors. We enjoy the sweet spot in the middle and also enjoy the extra wide dimension of the Pixio 347c Prime. Review for the Pixio 347c Prime is coming soon.

Disclaimer: Owner’s Magazine wasn’t paid by either MSI, Be Quiet! or Pixio to promote products. All of the parts in our PC were chosen due to their respected quality and value determined by our engineers. We used quite a bit of Be Quiet!’s products due to their products generally being whispers even during heavy operation. And we chose Pixio’s monitor due to it’s value and desirable pixel density for testing high end graphics card.

Witcher 3

Max FPS: 100

Low FPS: 92

Avg Temperature: 66C

Battlefield 1

Max FPS: 100

Low FPS: 77

Avg Temperature: 71C

Doom

Max FPS: 100

Low FPS: 74

Avg Temperature: 68C

Dishonored 2

Surprisingly dropped below 60FPS during intense fight scenes.

Max FPS: 100

Low FPS: 55

Avg Temperature: 64C

Call of Duty Infinity Warfare

Max FPS: 80

Low FPS: 52

Average Temperature: 79C

Tital Fall 2

Max FPS: 100

Low FPS: 66

Avg Temperature: 72C

MSI 1080 Ti Duke Verdict

After testing the MSI 1080 TI Duke for several hours the card never got over 77C, and fan speed was silent for the most part. The unit handle most games on the list without a hitch. However that’s not surprisingly since 1080 TI typically are made to handle higher end games. Cooling was not an issue with the triple Frozr fans silently doing their job. Frame-rate was capped at 100 for our testing, and most games remained at 100 FPS even during intense fight sequences. The only game that gave us any issue was Call of Duty: Infinity Warfare. The graphics card could only output 80FPS maxed and even dipped below 60FPS during a few sequences. All of this was on a 34″ 1440P ultra-side Pixio 347c Prime monitor, not a 4K monitor.

When you’re shopping for 1080 TI, whether you’re looking at Asus, PNY, EVGA, or MSI they’re all relatively great performing cards. What separates them are the options, features, and bonuses that they come with. At the time of writing, the MSI 1080 TI DUKE is priced at $750 shipped on Amazon and that’s quite a steal given everything you get with it. It’s a solid performing card that comes with all essential ports for VR, has phenomenal cooling, rigid construction with additional heat plates (why the cooling was so good), slim profile (much thinner than the Asus Strix 1080 ti) making it easy to have SLI configuration, and it runs at no louder than a quiet whisper. The only drawback is the lackluster RGB lighting which they may as well not have done at all. Other than that, we put the MSI 1080 TI Duke right up there with all the other big boys.

How To Prepare Yourself For A Job In Tech

Technology has transformed the way we live our lives and is set to achieve what was thought impossible a decade ago.

In today’s digital world, every sector is somewhat dependent on technology. So, if you are interested in making a career in technology, there is no limit of options. It is estimated that more than 10 billion smart devices will be connected to the internet by the year 2020, which will create more job opportunities in the technological field.

If you are planning for a career in tech, you need to plan it meticulously and keep yourself updated from time to time. You need to identify the right opportunity and make yourself stand out from the competition. Most of the well-known tech companies have a complex recruitment process to hire the right candidate. Your resume should be unique to get noticed in the crowd. You should also work hard and have diverse skillset to excel in the interviews. Here are some strategic tips for you to make it big in the tech industry.

Gain knowledge

If you want to attain success in the tech field, keep your basics right. Most of the tech companies look for good technical expertise. Keep your knowledge bank up-to-date with all the technical know-hows and latest innovations. You need to understand and master technology to contribute successfully. In-depth technical knowledge can definitely put you ahead of your competitors.

Passionate about technology? – Share it

Recruiters and hiring managers look for talent who passionate about technology. If you research on a tech issue, share it on a blog or tweet it and get noticed. If you are particularly passionate about cloud computing, UI design, or data analytics, share it on your blog or LinkedIn page. Your passion and activities throw more light on your personality and increase your employability.

Get ready to face the interview anytime

Tech companies recruit talent quickly. They look for dynamic individuals for their companies who are agile and mobile. So, keep your resume handy and visit various career fairs or online job portals regularly to know more about the tech companies and their recruitment procedures. If your skills match with a position, keep yourself ready to face the interview anytime.

Do your homework

It is important to know about your prospective employer. Wikipedia or LinkedIn are great sources to gather all the information about companies. Show some interest about the company and its work culture in the interview and you may have a better chance to negotiate your salary.

Ask questions

The biggest hurdle to get a tech job is to clear the technical round of an interview. The hiring managers evaluate you on your ability to solve real-world problems quickly. They also try to judge your knowledge and skills. The technical round consists of solving puzzles, brain teasers, coding challenges, and group discussions. However, your communication skill will definitely be the deal breaker in the interview. Interviews are always a two-way street. Ask some thoughtful questions to the employer about your role and your future in the company. Your interviewers do not know why they should hire you. So, you need to run an extra mile to prove yourself.

After you bag a role of your dreams in the tech industry, do not stop learning about the latest trends and keep yourself updated. It can always keep you ahead of your competitors. A good work experience allows you to choose a better role in the industry.

Why Quality Is Better Than Quantity In Design

We have all been taught that quality is always better than quantity. This is true even in design. Quality is better than quantity in a web design, because a well designed website is thought out and capable of capturing your target audience. While it is true that there is competition when it comes to web design, there are still many designers and companies that prefer their designs to be tailor-made for their company rather than a 1-size-fits-all type of website. Here are reasons why you should always go for quality rather than quantity.

Quality Means Better Work

Let’s stick to the example of quality web design. When you go to the internet and search for products, you usually go through several sites before settling on a page that catches your attention. But, before you decide to stick to that page, you’ve probably browsed through 3 or 4 websites. You might try asking yourself why you left those pages. Some of the most common answers include: slow loading time, unfriendly web design or uninformative product descriptions. All these reasons point towards sloppy workmanship on the part of the website developer. This could mean that the company is hiring inexperienced talent due to an overload in projects or poor supervising. Either way, this does not bode well for the reputation of your company, because it makes you look sloppy too.

Quality takes work. Designers and craftsmen alike need to consider many different factors so that they can make a product attractive to the target market. If your website looks like a cookie cutter website, it makes you look unoriginal and common. It might make customers think you stole website ideas from your rivals, because your website looks like theirs. This could translate to a loss in trust and a drop in reputation for your company.

Quality designs, on the other hand, means that thought was given to the design and development of the product. Designers studied what the customers wanted, what they need, and find ways to make the product unique to entice customers to them come back. All of these take time, but they have a better potential of paying off in the future. Designers and craftsmen need to consider everything from materials to the cost of time and materials ensure that the product is of good quality.

Quality Means Getting Noticed

There are over billions of different products available in the internet and in real-life. If you have a product you might want to launch it immediately to get a chunk of the market. Earlier is always better, so that you can reach more customers, right? This might be right, but in order to launch immediately, you might be tempted to go for something cheap with poor craftsmanship to ensure that your products are launched at the shortest possible date.

But, there is a price to your hastiness. Cheap and poor quality products are very common. They look like carbon copies of each other and break easily. The only difference in some of them is the price or the color of the product. You don’t want to be lumped together with companies like these

Quality Products Mean Better Reputation

In the end, the reputation of your company hangs in the quality of your product. If you want to be a trusted name in your industry, you want a quality product. If you produce quality, people will see your product and company as industry leaders, and there is no price you can pay for this kind of reputation. Yes, it might mean that your product is more expensive than others, but at least you know you are providing good quality products that provide value to your customers.

The Divorce of Fantasy and Science Fiction

The divorce of fantasy and science fiction

When you walk into any Barnes and Nobles, you’ll notice that the layout of the store is separated by shelves. Each row of shelves is marked by genre. There’s an isle for Romance, one for History, one for Children’s Books, and New Releases. If you continue walking, you’ll notice an isle titled fantasy and science fiction.

For most of the history of literature, you’ll see these two paired together. Fantasy and science fiction are both genres of fiction and they present worlds where impossible things happen. What’s the difference? In fantasy, the story is driven by mystical and magical forces often in a time and place that isn’t real. In Science Fiction, the story is driven by technologies not yet known or mastered, often with settings in the far off future.

The divide between fantasy and science fiction

Until recently, it made sense to group Science Fiction together with Fantasy. Stories of these genres often shared similar tropes and literary aesthetics and both being worlds of impossibility. However this is quickly becoming less and less true. There is a chasm growing between these genres. This gap grows parallel to the current explosive growth of internet and technology. Famous science fiction novels like The Time Machine and 1000 Leagues Under the Sea would seem far outside the realm of possibility, especially to people during the Victorian era (the era that produced the steam punk aesthetic). But when you compare the fictional plot lines of these same works to what we’re achieving technologically today, you won’t see too much of a difference. Famous classic pieces like Issac Asimov’s, iRobot don’t look very different that the automated world we live in today. In an age of drones, artificial intelligence, and self-driving cars, how far from the future are we?

What does the future hold for these genre?

We’re reaching a point in time where these two genres need their own separate bookshelves and it seems that as humanity changes, so does our literature. As imaginative and timeless as the genre of fantasy can be, the magic that shapes it will sadly never truly exist. As we continue to innovate more and more, science fiction will have to find itself a new name. In what category will we call the stories of the future? What new genres will we create?